


Anxiety Attack

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-13 16:05:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20585228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex has an anxiety attack at school.





	Anxiety Attack

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in their high school days. Alex has anxiety in this, so please don't read if that triggers you in any way.

It was December in Alex’s junior year of high school, and the last couple of weeks had been a bit tough for him, as it always seemed to be around this time of the year. The stress of midterms, his part time job, and the holidays in general could all make Alex feel very overwhelmed.   
A small thing could happen followed by another, and he would combine them in his head, and make it into a bigger deal than it really was. Eventually, he’d get trapped in this mindset, and he would start to spiral, and getting himself out of it would be very challenging. He really hated feeling like this, especially since he knew that his mind was just blowing stuff out of proportion, but he was very anxiety prone, which didn’t do anything to help the situation.   
It was the last Friday before midterm week started at school, and Alex couldn’t be looking forward to the end of the day more, because he’d been feeling very overwhelmed by school and his parents, and really just wanted an escape from it all. He was going to spend his Saturday studying, and then Sunday working at his job, he was a cashier at Target, and wasn’t a fan of how rude some of the customers could be. When people were especially rude to him, it made him very anxious, which wasn’t fun to deal with at work. The only good thing about his job, was that his best friend and classmate, Jack worked there as well. He knew that Alex had anxiety issues, but normally didn’t talk to him about them unless Alex brought it up first, because he didn’t really know how to comfort him.   
Alex and Jack were in their sixth period, which was English, and Alex had to give a short presentation on the book they were reading, which freaked him out. He wasn’t a fan of public speaking, and even though he’d only be talking for about five minutes, he was still nervous about it.  
“Mr. Gaskarth, will you please give us the chapter summaries you came up with for the fifth and sixth chapters, and tell us what you think the symbolism is?” the teacher asked.   
Alex just nodded in reply, then walked to the front of the classroom with the paper containing his summary. He looked at all of the people staring at him, then looked over to Jack, Jack mouthed to him saying that he could do it, then gave an encouraging smile. Alex took a deep breath, then began to read what was on his paper, until about halfway through his presentation, when his teacher stopped him.  
“Alex, those are all things that happened in chapter seven, I think you summarized the wrong chapter by mistake,” she said. Alex could feel his cheeks go red, and his mind immediately started spiraling.  
“Oh, um, I’m really sorry,” Alex said quietly.  
“Go sit down, I’ll summarize the chapters, then we can discuss them as planned,” the teacher replied. Alex could hear a few of his classmates laughing and quietly talking, which made him spiral even further, and he shakily took his seat next to Jack and put his paper away.  
“Hey, it’s alright man, don’t worry too much,” Jack said, knowing exactly what Alex was thinking. Alex didn’t say anything, he just stared toward the front of the classroom, he was having an anxiety attack. Jack knew what was going on, and felt very worried for his friend, but he knew that he couldn’t talk to him about it in the middle of class. Once the class finally let out, Jack followed Alex out of the classroom.  
“Hey, don’t worry about this too much, everyone makes mistakes. I’ve fucked up plenty of things in that class before,” Jack said, trying to comfort his friend.  
“Jack, I’m going home, I can’t do this right now,” Alex said, sounding very set on his choice.  
“Alex, I’m supposed to drive you home after school, remember? If you walk, it’ll take you almost an hour. I can’t just leave now, because I have a test in my last period that I can’t make up later,” Jack explained.  
“I’ll be fine, I’m going to sneak out,” Alex replied in a monotone voice. He was still feeling very anxious, and his mind was still spiraling.  
“Alex don’t- “Jack started.  
“I’ll be fine,” Alex said, before walking away from his friend. As much as Jack wanted to go after him right there, he had to go to seventh period to take his test, so he promised himself that he would go right to Alex’s house right after school to make sure that his friend was okay.   
Alex managed to sneak out of school and started his journey home, wishing that Jack could be with him, since being alone with the thoughts that he was having was scary to him and made him feel helpless. He spent the whole walk overthinking what felt like everything; what had just happened in English, an argument that he’d had with his mom about a week ago, and every rude person that he’d encountered at work within the past month. Alex even remembered what the store looked like on busy days, which always made him feel some extreme anxiety and sensory overload.   
All of these thoughts and feelings made him feel almost worthless, like he couldn’t do anything right. He was a people pleaser to a degree, and he really hated when people were upset with him. This was the main reason that his anxiety was so bad, he could make the smallest social mistake ever, and he would make it bigger than it really was. All of these thoughts really made him question his existence. He wasn’t suicidal, he was actually afraid of death, but he did occasionally wonder if the people around him would have an easier time without him around.   
By the time Alex finally reached his house, his stomach was really hurting him, like he was going to get sick. This was very common for him, so he knew he wouldn’t actually throw up, but it was still an intense pain. He climbed up the stairs and went right to his room as he continued trying to get out of the trap his thoughts had put him in, but just couldn’t do it.   
Once school let out, Jack practically ran to his car. He was able to focus on his test, but once he handed it in, all of his thoughts went back to his best friend. Alex hadn’t texted him, so Jack hoped that he was safe at home by now. He knew Alex’s anxiety could clump together like this, but he always hated to see it, he hated seeing his best friend so down on himself and trapped in his mind.   
Jack drove over to Alex’s house, and let himself in with the key he had, then walked up the stairs, and into Alex’s room. He knocked on the door before opening it up to Alex sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. Jack sat next to him and put his hand on Alex’s leg.  
“Alex, talk to me. Are you okay? You made me really worried since you didn’t text or anything,” Jack said gently. Alex took a deep breath before speaking.  
“It’s all just been a lot lately,” Alex finally said, his voice sounding strained.  
“What’s been a lot? You can tell me, you know you can talk to me about anything,” Jack continued.  
“I think it’s partly because this always seems to happen to me this time of year, you know, getting really stressed from our job, school, and exams. I had an argument with my mom that I’ve been thinking about a lot, and the thing that happened in English kind of pushed me over the edge, I guess. It’s all just overcrowding in my head, and my stomach really hurts, and I hate this,” Alex said, holding his stomach.  
“Do you think you’re really going to get sick?” Jack questioned.  
“No, this happens a lot. I’ll be fine, it just really sucks,” Alex replied.  
“Well, I’m glad to hear that, but I hate that you’re feeling so bad mentally, and I really want to help you. We’ve gone through this together before, and I’ll always be here to help you when stuff like this happens. What can I do to help you feel better?” Jack asked.  
“I don’t even know. I’m sorry that you have to deal with this so often with me, I bet it gets annoying,” Alex quietly said.  
“Don’t apologize, I just want to help you. I know that your mind is being loud and insane, but please try not to listen to it. You’re going to get through the rest of the semester and do great on your exams, your mom definitely still loves you, our job is fucking stupid, and I bet that no one will remember what happened in English today by the time we’re back from Christmas break. I know you probably don’t believe any of that, but what can I do to help you start getting there? We’ll do whatever it takes, I’m not leaving your side, and that’s a promise, man,” Jack declared.   
“You really are the best, thank you for being such a great friend to me, Jack, I really don’t know what’d do without you. To be honest, I really don’t want to talk about all of this right now, but maybe I will later, once I’ve kind of calmed down a bit. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to, but maybe we can watch a movie or something up here for now? Just hanging out with you will help me start to escape my mind,” Alex explained.  
“We absolutely can do that. It’s Friday, so I’ll stay over for as long as you want me to. What movie should we watch?” Jack asked.  
“Maybe the second Harry Potter movie? It’s always been a favorite of mine, and it’s recorded on the DVR in here,” Alex replied.  
“That sounds good to me. You know what, why don’t I just sleep over tonight? I know you have to study for exams tomorrow, and I do too., so we can help each other study, and maybe us being together will help you to not get too stressed about it,” Jack explained as he pulled up the movie on the TV.  
“That would be great. Thank you so much, Jack. I hate to ask you to do even more, but can I ask you for one more favor?” Alex asked.  
“Of course you can,” Jack replied.  
“Whenever I have a lot of anxiety, hugging something always helps me calm down some. Can I like, snuggle you during the movie?” Alex asked, blushing some.  
“Sure, come on over,” Jack said, smiling at his friend. Alex gave a small smile back, then snuggled into his best friend as the opening credits for the movie played on the TV.  
“Jack, thank you for being the best friend ever,” Alex said.  
“No problem, Alex. I’ll always be here for you, and that’s a promise,” Jack replied. The two of them spent their night watching a bunch of movies together. As much as Alex hated being so anxious, and how bad it could get, especially this time of year, he was glad that he had such a kind and understanding friend in Jack.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This story is really different from what I normally post, but I still wanted to put it up. I've had this written for almost a year, and found it in my writer's notebook earlier, and decided it was time. I was a bit hesitant to post this, since it deals with such an important topic, but I decided it would be best. When I wrote this almost a year ago, it was almost like a diary entry for me, and I put my experiences into Alex in this story. It helped me out quite a bit, and my hope is that it helps you guys who deal with this, too. I'm studying to be a mental health professional, so topics like this are very close to my heart. My next story will be more like what I usually post (I think), but I hope that you guys liked this one. Thank you for reading, especially since this wasn't as light hearted as my normal content is. Leave requests if you have them. Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
